How To Discover and Build Your Author Brand

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn

If you think branding is a business marketing term and doesn’t apply to authors, it’s time to change your mind!

The internet is made up of many tiny niches and websites, blogs and books relate to those markets. People find those sites by searching for specific words and phrases based on what they are interested in. Your author website, or your book, can be found in this way too.

Branding is important because it enables people to find you, and when they find you, they might just buy your book. So who are you online? Which niche do you fit into? How do people find you?

Creating an author platform is vital for a new author’s success, and creating a brand is the basis for the platform. You need to know what you are creating before you start!

Deciding On Your Brand

To decide on your brand, answer the following questions:

How do you want to be known? What words do you want people to associate with you?

What are your goals for the next 3 years? What words are associated with that?

Will your books be in a particular genre?

Who do you admire and want to emulate in writing and also as a brand? Find their websites and keep screenprints of what you like and don’t like. Use them as a model (but obviously no plagiarism!)

If you have a website already, enter it into Google Keyword tool. Are you happy with the keywords associated with your site? Do you need to change your focus?

What images do you want associated with you and your brand?

You also need to know what you want for your future, because if you can’t see the brand extending over multiple books you have hard work ahead! I made this mistake after my first book “How To Enjoy Your Job” when I branded myself with “career change” and a business image. I quickly realised that I didn’t want to speak or write on this topic anymore and started The Creative Penn, a new brand, from scratch. I brainstormed ideas and settled on using my own name and the image of a pen with creativity. You can still keep more than 1 niche/brand, but be aware of the effort involved!

Having a brand doesn't mean you need an expensive logo or unique design (although you can do these things). It means you have an image and words associated with you in people's minds. You resonate with something to your fans and customers. People will form these opinions themselves, but you can control this if you build a brand.

Building Your Brand

Once you have decided what you want your brand to be, then you need to ensure you stay on message, and make sure people don’t get confused when they arrive at your site. For example, if you write a horror book, people will not expect pink teddy bears and smiley faces on your site. If you write romance, have a site that reflects that.

* Blog and network on topic and within your brand niche. For example, on this blog I will not talk about my day job, I won’t give you cooking or family advice. I also won’t review a sci-fi book. I will stay within the bounds of The Creative Penn brand because that is what you expect (and want) from this blog. I will also only tweet the same topics as it fits with my brand.

* Be consistent. Try using the same photo across multiple social networks so people recognise you. Put your picture on your key material because you want people to connect with you personally, not just your book. Try not to jump around too much with your brand ideas. Think about it, then focus your energy on developing that brand consistently. The internet compounds your efforts, so the longer you are in the game, the more effective you will be.

* Find others in your brand niche. Connect with likeminded people and follow similar blogs. Get to know who makes an impact in your area and read what they are doing. Connect with them on Twitter if you can. Perhaps interview them for a podcast? Google them and see where they have been posting or appearing. Do they have video or audio? Which social networks do they use? Where do they sell books? From there you will also find people you can network with and who may start following your blog.

Comments

Another great post. I think what I came away with that was most helpful was ‘network in your niche’. This is an area where I can certainly improve. I also found the questions you asked very helpful.
Wishing you a great week.
Donna

I have taken your advice, and started building my brand, so over this weekend, did a free Kindle on my first book “The Baltic Triangle Codename Seaforth” and over 500 took up my free offer, and 20 bought my latest book Deadly States, I have also produced a YouTube video of Deadly States, but its still hard work!!!!!!!! not that moi is complaining, thank-goodness I don’t have to earn a living trough my writing, I would be destitute!!!!!!!! I ma about 90% on my third book, which I hope to have out in the summer of 2013, but one big draw back, is that Waterstones have stopped allowing self publishing authors book signing days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for another useful post! I’m just getting towards the end of my first draft (non-fiction) and beginning to think about marketing and so forth. I had been considering self-publishing for some time but your excellent Guardian Masterclass tipped the balance and now I’m definitely on that route. I have had a blog for a number of years, but the problem I face is planning and timing – when do I do what to build up brand and platform as the time for actual publication approaches? I know, I should read your recommended guides first – including your own, of course!

THANK YOU so much for such good advice on book marketing and author branding! I edit and promote my husband’s books; COASTAL CONFESSIONS launched in December 2012; CORPORATE RULES coming Nov/Dec 2013. I’ve spent a good part of today on Author 2.0 Blueprint and will mark it as a huge success because of the excellent content and everything I’ve learned from you today! I have been following you for a while, but just overwhelmed with everything out there – I finally made myself focus today! It feels great!

Thanks for all the excellent advice. I think the idea of niche is particularly relevant to my first indie book, which is about Spain and the crisis, involving corruption and human rights issues, which I didn’t write as a commercial proposition, but do want it to be a success. Maybe all non-fiction books are niche publications by definition and involve a recognition of their limitations. Trish. Watson, “Eternal Spain: corruption and crisis. AMAZON Kindle ebook.

[…] had published a non-fiction book, ‘How to Enjoy Your Job’. As she states in a 2009 post, ‘How to Discover and Build Your Author Brand’, she had mistakenly branded herself towards this non-fiction book with words like ‘career […]

[…] Joanna Penn: How to Discover and Build Your Author Brand. Penn writes thrillers as well as non-fiction for authors. She’s also a speaker, so she can build her brand for her writing using her speaking engagements. She says you must decide on your brand by identifying words you’d like associated with your name. The words you choose should incorporate your genre and your goals. Research authors you admire and evaluate their brands to decide which you want to emulate. Then, identify images that you want to identify your brand. Once these decisions are made, it’s time to build your brand. She suggests some of the same things Hyatt recommends like blogging and networking within your niche. And, above all, she says—be consistent. […]

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Most of the information on this site is free for you to read, watch or listen to, but The Creative Penn is also a business and my livelihood.
So please expect hyperlinks to be affiliate links in many cases, when I receive a small percentage of sales if you wish to purchase. I only recommend tools, books and services that I either use or people I know personally. Integrity and authenticity continue to be of the highest importance to me.
Read the privacy policy here. Read the Cookie policy here.
I hope you find the site useful!
Thanks - Joanna